Solution to gender diversity? Appoint more women

Time is not the answer for those hoping to see more women in leadership positions. A study conducted by Bain & Company, and Chief Executive Women (CEW) recently released found the following:

Presence of women in leadership positions inspired other women to reach their full potential.

Since 1985, more women have been graduating from universities than men.

Nine times more men make it to senior leadership positions than women despite both genders showing equal amounts of ambition.

53% women are detractors of their organisations as a place where women can progress to senior levels.

Women are five times more likely to promote their organisation as a good place to work when females represent more than 25% of the executive team.

It was also found that women tended to be most negative when it came to progression in their junior to middle management years, being especially critical of their management style. During this career formative years, many women were also faced with starting a family and balancing their work, questioning the possibility of being promoted if they don’t have examples of other women having done it previously. At a Bloomberg and Chief Executive Women (CEW) panel event in November 2012, CEW’s Chief Executive Officer, Julie White observed the decrease in the numbers of women between twenty-five and forty-four years of age typically when Australians often start families.

Melanie Sanders, Bain partner and co-author of the report advises Australian businesses to stop talking and start implementing: appoint more women to top positions

Melanie Sanders, Bain partner and co-author of the report advises Australian businesses to stop talking and start implementing: appoint more women to top positions. Helen Conway, Chief Executive of EOWA (Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency), urged shareholders to ask their companies to better utilise their female talent.

Whether Australian businesses add gender diversity to the top of their business plans remains to be seen however ASX listed companies appear to have taken this onboard given the results of the 2012 Australian Census of Women in Leadership.

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